Speculation: Droid Charge by Samsung

Verizon’s Droid series of devices continue to grow with the addition of the Droid Charge by Samsung. The phone was supposed to be released on April 28, 2011, but was unexpectedly delayed (possibly due to Verizon’s 4G LTE black out that occurred during the week of the Charge’s release). The Charge is Verizon’s second 4G LTE device, sporting the critically acclaimed Super AMOLED Plus display (4.3-inch), a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor (same one found in Galaxy S devices), an 8 megapixel camera with LED flash, 1.3 MP front-facing camera, and a 1,600 mAh battery. The device is powered by Android 2.2 (Froyo) with Samsung’s custom user interface, TouchWiz, running on top. With numerous dual-core superphones coming out soon, does the Droid Charge even deserve a moment of our time? Read more to find out!

There are two main things going for the Droid Charge: the display and 4G LTE. The Charge sports Samsung’s new Super AMOLED Plus display, the latest iteration of last year’s extremely popular Super AMOLED technology. The new display is said to maintain its predecessor’s color vibrancy and brilliance while improving overall crispness by increasing sub-pixel density. In my opinion, what makes a good display is both the clarity and color, which is why I think the Super AMOLED Plus is better than the iPhone 4’s Retina Display, which looks sharp, but lacks in the color department. In addition, the Charge’s screen is large, spanning 4.3-inches diagonally. The added real estate makes it a lot easier to type, browse the web, and view content. I can’t stress this enough, the Super AMOLED Plus display is magnificent and is probably the Droid Charge’s best physical feature.

Besides the display, the Charge boasts 4G LTE support, so you’ll be able to take advantage of Verizon’s super fast 4G data speeds. In many HTC Thunderbolt reviews, I’ve seen the device average download speeds around 20 mbps on Verizon’s 4G network, which is actually faster than my home cable connection. With these download speeds, you could theoretically download songs in seconds and movies in a fraction of the time it’d normally take on a 3G network or even Wi-Fi. Other practical advantages include faster load times when browsing the web and when downloading apps in the Market. Verizon’s 4G LTE has proven to be quite impressive in the speed department and it’s a good thing that the Charge utilizes it.

Source: Verizon

Besides the display and 4G LTE capabilities, the Droid Charge doesn’t offer anything else that is super impressive. The phone is powered by a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor, which is in no way slow, but is aging when compared to the upcoming dual-core stuff. But that shouldn’t really impact your decision too much. Just ask yourself, “What do I use my phone for?” If you’re just an average user who simply texts, play games, surf the web, and listen to music, the Charge should be more than enough to satisfy your needs, but if you’re a power user who will be running multiple CPU-intensive apps at a time, then it’s probably best for you to wait for something stronger to come out, but you already know that because you’re a phone nerd, right?

Verizon's Droid campaign is quite appealing. Source: Verizon

Ultimately, I think this device is going to sell well thanks to the marketing campaign that Verizon has set up for it and its “Droid” branding. It’s just a little sad to see people buy this device because with the same amount of money, they could probably get something a lot better. If they only knew…but this is why we’re here, to help those people get some insight before they decide on forking out the dough for a device.

Very true Neil. Those bastards at ATT charge $25 for 2gb and $15 for every 200 MB. I keep hearing that Verizon is doing the same in the summer and do not want to get caught. If they set a firm date I would wait for the bionic but oh well. Nice screen, 4g, decent battery, and HDMI seemed good enough to me. I got free activation also so it seemed worth it, especially for a family plan.

First, when comparing the Thunderbolt and Charge, you have understated the two most important Charge advantages over the Thuderbolt: longer battery life and HDMI (which makes it possible to mirror the phone to a big screen). BTW, the better battery life is, in part, a result of the SAmoled+ screen technology. So, of the only two 4G LTE phone that currently exist, the Charge is far superior. That’s why I bypassed the TBolt, and have a Charge on order. As for your other idea, that it might make sense to wait for something even better, that’s nonsense. It might make sense to wait, if there really were something better that will be avaiable any time sooon. But, those breakthrough better phones that have been promised have proven to be illusions. The Bionic is indefinitely delayed (read that as “no sooner than Q3) and Apple’s release of a 4GLTE iPhone5 will be even later. Also, if you want unlimited data, you’d better sign up quickly, because Verizon is going to stop offering same, unless you sign up now; if you wait for that Bionic or iPhone5, you will have to sign up for a data plan that will charge you by the GB of data you use. I wanted to buy either one, but have given up on both, concluding that we can wait for ever for the “perfect” phone and miss out on a really good one, like the Charge, by doing so. As the old saying goes, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”